New hits, old favorites dot Center’s next season

Tom Titus

From the show that changed the face of the American musical

(“Oklahoma”) to Broadway’s latest mega-hit (“The Producers”), the

Orange County Performing Arts Center will offer something to suit

just about every taste next season.

It all starts Sept. 2 with the revival of the first hit show by

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” This

1972 rock opera, seldom produced locally, recounts that last week in

the life of Christ and includes the hit single “I Don’t Know How to

Love Him.”

Following “Superstar” into the Costa Mesa showplace, opening Sept.

23, will be the first of a pair of Rodgers and Hammerstein revivals,

“Flower Drum Song.” This is the revitalized version of the Chinatown

comedy that began its new life two years ago at the Mark Taper Forum

in Los Angeles before moving on to Broadway to become a sold-out

success.

Michael Flatley will bring his record-breaking production “Lord of

the Dance” to the Center over Thanksgiving weekend for a four-day,

five-performance engagement Nov. 25, 26, 28 and 29 (dark on the

holiday). It’ll be the show’s first time at the Center, which has

hosted a similar show, “Riverdance,” on two occasions.

Webber returns to the Center on Christmas Day with “Starlight

Express,” a high-velocity musical built around a locomotive race --

with its cast resembling “Star Wars” droids on roller skates. This

revival ran for 7,400 performances in London, closing last year as

that city’s second-longest running musical (behind Webber’s “Cats,”

which visits the Center May 27).

Estancia High School graduate Spencer Kayden was featured in the

offbeat Broadway hit “Urinetown,” due at the Center April 27, 2004,

but it’s unclear whether she’ll be returning to her home town with

the touring production. This Tony Award winner centers on a city

running so short of water that private toilets have been outlawed and

public facilities carry a hefty tariff.

When “Oklahoma” hit the Broadway stage in 1943, it altered the art

of dance in American musicals and introduced the team of Rodgers and

Hammerstein. This highly familiar and popular classic will visit the

Center beginning June 15.

The Roaring ‘20s roar again starting July 27 as “Thoroughly Modern

Millie,” inspired by the movie of the same name, comes to town. The

show, billed as “frothy and affectionately irreverent,” includes a

rebuilt score and three numbers from the screen version.

“Springtime for Hitler” may not sound like the title of a hit

musical, but as the centerpiece of Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” --

Broadway’s biggest current smash, based on the movie of the same name

-- it’s an unanticipated success, which means big trouble for the

title characters. We’ll get a look at the touring version from Aug. 3

to 22, 2004.

Still to come in the 2002-03 campaign are “Cats” (May 27), “42nd

Street” (June 11), “Aida” (July 2) and “Mama Mia” (July 29).

* TOM TITUS’ reviews run Thursdays and Saturdays.